British Airways (genuinely) improves the ba.com Avios awards search engine

The good people of Flyertalk spotted something yesterday morning – the ba.com reward search engine has been improved.  Genuinely improved!

Before, if you wanted to book a reward flight, it would only show British Airways flights by default.  If the route was served by a oneworld partner airline such as airberlin, Finnair, Qantas, American etc, all you would see is a little box in the corner saying ‘Click here to check partners’.

Now, all the results appear together. 

It is also quicker to find routes flown only by partners.  Search for Berlin to Abu Dhabi, for example, and it brings up the airberlin service immediately.  Previously, you had to go through a page which said ‘Sorry, BA does not fly this route’ (“yes, I already know that!”) before clicking on ‘Partners’.

It is still not ideal.  Aer Lingus routes, for example, are not bookable online.  It would be helpful if you got a message when searching for an Aer Lingus route telling you this, but you don’t.

You also cannot see partner awards if you click on ‘calendar view’, which shows you which days over a month have reward seats.  You only see BA availability this way.

This is still much, MUCH better than most airlines offer, though.  Miles & More, for example, does not let you book partner awards online.  This is, I presume, an attempt to persuade you to book a Luthansa-family airline because you can’t be bothered to ring up and see what else is there.

So, thumbs up to BA for this one.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.